


I Don't Know What to Say

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Gift Giving
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-21
Updated: 2015-09-21
Packaged: 2018-04-22 19:32:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4847609
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>"Cas, are you... are you </em>crying?<em>"</em></p>
<p>  <em>"No," the angel replies, as though Dean's an idiot for even asking.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	I Don't Know What to Say

Of all the expressions that Dean's seen Castiel wearing, nothing compares to the one that he's wearing right now, not even the almost-tearful look he had when confronted with a hooker. It's the most bizarre combination of curiosity and incredulity that he's ever seen on a human face--hell, he didn't even know that a human face _could_ make an expression like that. Maybe it couldn't, without Castiel's influence. But he really shouldn't be making that earnest of an expression over something so simple, and ducking his head like...

Wait. "Cas, are you..." He pauses, hoping that he's wrong, because really? That wasn't even on the list of possible reactions. "Are you _crying_?"

"No," the angel replies, as though Dean's an idiot for even asking, which... yeah, okay, he probably is. But even at this angle, he can see Castiel's eyelashes trembling like crazy, and what does that usually mean, if not crying?

"Then what? You don't like them?" Not that he really expected a standing ovation over a new set of clothes. He'd be happy if Castiel accepted them at all, because seriously, the ones he's wearing look like they'd be glad to have the night off. Or a week. Maybe he could even get them a date with the washing machine, while he was at it.

"I don't understand," the angel says slowly, either not hearing or ignoring the question. "My vessel is already clothed; what am I intended to do with these?"

"Uh... Well, I thought maybe you would like a change of clothes. I mean, you wear those ones all the time, right? They must get kinda... funky."

Castiel's head cocks, birdlike. "I don't understand what you mean by 'funky'."

"You know... lived-in?"

"I was under the impression that humans believed the state of having once been occupied to be a good thing."

"Not that kind, Cas."

"How can there be two different forms of--"

"Okay, okay!" Dean holds his hands up in surrender. "Look, if it upsets your angelic sensibilities that badly, then forget I said anything. I'll just take these back where I got them from, and I'll never get you a gift again, promise."

If Castiel had been human, his eyes would probably be narrowed right about now. "Gift?"

"Uh, yeah. You... you do know about gifts, don't you?"

"I am acquainted with the concept, Dean." He glances back down at the clothes, neatly folded in his hands, as though they're a foreign concept that needs working out. "However, I have never received a... a gift."

Coming from anyone else, that would sound almost like a complaint, but from Castiel, it's just a statement. Dean grins. "Dude, you've missed out on one of the greatest parts of being human! You know this means Sam and I are gonna have to initiate you into the Society of Gift-Receivers, right?"

There's that blank look of confusion that the angel is so good at. "I know of no such society."

"That's because you're not a member yet. Believe me, once you get started, it comes really easy."

"Dean--"

"Look, are you going to accept them, or not?"

Castiel fixes the bundle of fabric in his hands with another intense stare, staying silent and motionless for so long that Dean starts to wonder if he's auditioning for an angel statue. "...If you insist," he says at last.

"Damn right, I'm insisting!" Meeting the angel's awkward glance, Dean grins. "Just you wait, Cas; we'll show you everything that you've been missing all this time. And it'll be great."


End file.
